Friday, August 04, 2006

Oh, this is big news.Some of you may recall the post about Sondra Prill on Otis Fodder's 365Project. The audio to three of her songs were posted, but some saint has posted the entire oevre of Florida's public-access TV queen, 24 short video clips in all, on YouTube, documenting not only her singing (wildly uninhibited, and not bound by conventional standards of pitch), her Bride-of-Frankenstein hair and performing style, but also her, ahem, comedy talents. She plays several characters, although the biggest character would be Ms. Prill herself, who sadly hasn't been heard from much in the last 15 years.Every clip is a jewel: decimating everything from "The Star-Spangled Banner" to Robert Palmer's "Addicted To Love," singing a duet with a guy injesting helium (!?), wearing fake plastic breasts, awkwardly flirting with an interviewer, serenading a visibly-uncomfortable caterer who happened to be on the set...the hits just keep coming.I recorded the audio from a couple of these magical musical moments. I don't know why."Nasty Boys" video - Sondra does Janet Jackson with her trademark arsenal of facial expressions; you'll laugh, you'll cringe."Nasty Boys" mp3"Pump Up The Jam" mp3 - proving that it is possible to rap off-key."Pump Up The Jam" video - Technotronic's hit set on the beach, with Sondra clad in...what the hell is that? A chain-mail bathing suit?

Thank you so much for the link to the YouTube vids. My favorite parts are the bizarre "sketches" and interview segments - for one, because she's not trying to sing. Although, to some, Sondra Prill might come across as a monumentally self-absorbed, cocaine-addled schizophrenic, I'm confident that she was really a brilliant conceptual artiste pushing buttons of reaction a la Andy Kaufman. Look beyond the crispy perm and vacant stare, and you will discover a social critic of the highest order.